Hi,

My little boy is profoundly deaf. He suffered for months with ear infections and glue ear. He had grommets inserted at 12 months old. He instantly started responding to sound better. We had to be careful with baths, swimming etc - using swim plugs and avoiding getting water in his ears - but he didn't get any more infections. They have just come out on their own - after 16 months. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again, they made a huge difference.

Hope this helps!

Hi,

My son has bilateral moderate hearing loss.  He had glue ear on top of this and a lot of wax buildup which kept having to be removed.  He had grommets inserted aged 2 1/2, immediately he responded to sounds better. As the previous post, we just had to be cared when swimming, etc.  Aged about 3 1/2 he took part in research and had hearing aids fitted, which had open domes (not previously used for children).  This meant that his speech development was not delayed or impacted. The grommets came out on their own and he had another set inserted aged 5.  Once these came out he had no further problems with glue ear. He had no problems with ear infections.  He has now been wearing hearing aids ever since (now 17) and his underlying hearing loss has not changed since he was first tested.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Hi my son has glue ear and he was sent for grommets back in 2018 when he was 7. When they put him under they found he in fact had cholesteatoma in one ear, so he didn't have the grommetts. He had surgery January last year and had a mastoidectomy. This stoppped the degeneration of his ear and further damage, but he has now got moderate hearing loss in one ear and still suffers with glue ear in the affected ear.

When they put the child under to insert the grommets they will most likely check for other conditions etc like they did for my son. The grommets may well reduce the chances of your son getting infections in his ears and the hospital should keep a close eye on him. If you are worried at any point contact you paediatrician.

My daughter suffered from glue ear a few years ago, and grommets were suggested. I was reluctant because of her having hearing aids and the risk of infections. In the end we tried an ear popper, on the advice of our ENT consultant. It wasn't available on the NHS but we were able to hire it privately from our consultant, it was only about £25 for a couple of weeks. My daughter was a bit younger than the target age so we weren't sure it would work, but it worked perfectly. Thankfully we haven't had any recurrence since

My daughter had glue ears in 2018, she was 4 years old at the time. They recommended grommets which we accepted. Her hearing was clearer. The procedure didnt take too long, we were able to go down to the 'theatre's room with her upto the point where they gave her the gas. Honestly  it wasnt the best experience but once it was over she could hear better. She didnt have any infection at all which I was worried about. The grommets came out on their own and she hasn't had another one since.

Hope this helps. Goodluck x

It tends to go by experience.

My daughter has a moderate hearing loss and then glue ear made it severe. We did grommets which actually were a life saver in that respect and she had her hearing aids porgrammed back to original settings. BUT she had so many issues from the gromments... one got stuck in and kept getting infected. She even was in hospital with septicimia because had wrong antibiotics. and eventually the recurring ear inefetions caused ear drum damage so now her hearing is worse in that ear but still moderate.

So when it came to my 3rd daughter who has only a mild hearing loss and wouldn't be aided at all if not for conductive loss making it worse i chose to aid and not do grommets. It's a fluctuating hearing loss as the glue gets thicker or thinner etc. so have to keep retesting and readjusting the hearing aids but she she's doing amazing which is what counts.

good luk with decision... if you do go for grommets remember its a simple procedure but ask ENT for his secretaries number incase you do run into problems like his dad